A weekend in Duluth

Erin and I had been pretty busy the last few weeks.  Erin traveling all over the place, and I was shooting video for bwcacast.   We decided to take the weekend to get away and hang out together.

We headed to Duluth and stayed down by the lake in the Holiday Inn.  Its not right on the water, but its very close to canal park.  We relaxed in the hotel, went out to eat, and caught a couple showings at the Imax theater.  The first one was on the Alps follwing a man who was preparing to climb the north face of the iger.  His father had died attempting to climb the same rout.  It was some really amazing video and with such a large screen it made you feel like you were right there.  One thing that had me wondering is who was packing the Imax camera up the side of that mountain.  The second one was about the great lakes and how the sturgeon fish is on the brink of extinction.  That there is a scientist that is working to save the species.  It seems like they are close to having things under control.  Another fun show to watch.

We didn’t stop our big screen viewing there, we ended the evening by going to SlumDog Millionair.  It was a pretty good movie.  It sure makes you apreciate your childhood.

The weekend went fast as it always does, but I came back feeling a bit refreshed and relaxed.  Just what the doctor ordered.

Winter Show

Last Sunday, Jesse and I headed out to shoot another winter episode for BWCACAST.  Our journey this time led us to the Little Indian Sioux entry point.  It was really warm out and very sunny.  Jesse was armed with his fancy DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera, and I had my video camera.

One of the nice things about shooting shows with Jesse is that he is very patient, and willing to wait around while I set up shots.  There were a few times where I walked a long ways ahead to set up the camera, then hiked back and the two of us would walk continue on our way with the video camera shooting us.

On the way we came across something I had never seen before.  Jesse knew exactly what it was right away.  A bird had taken a small animal out of the snow and in the process left a wing print in the snow.

We made it out to the Devils Cascade, which was about 5 miles from the entry point.  I think I added about another mile to the trip with all the running around with the camera.

The return trip was pretty rough on me.  I am pretty much out of shape, and I think my body is only rated for about 6 or 7 miles of snowshoeing, not 11 or 12.  So there was a lot of grimacing and breaks on the way back.  I was still hobbling around at work on Monday and Tuesday.

I am hoping to head out again this weekend to shoot another show.  Hopefully Jesse will be able to join me as well.

How do you install that?

My web design students are a lot of fun.  We have an ongoing humorous argument about wich operating system is better, Mac or PC.  Well… On Monday one of my students brought me the newest Windows operating system (Windows 7) which was released in beta a couple weeks ago.

So Monday night Jesse and I met up in Hibbing where he helped me pick up some linoleum for our kitchen and we used his truck to bring it back to the house.  Jesse was then kind enough to help me do the install.  Which turned out perfect.

Tuesday back in class, three of my students came up to me asking if I had installed Windows 7 on my Mac the night before.  I told them I hadn’t, because I was too busy installing linoleum.  All three got a very confused look, and then almost at the same time one said “How do you install that?”, while another said “Is that an operating system?”.  I said no, its my new kitchen floor.

It was pretty funny how the terminology was the same, and they were mulling over in their mind how one might install linoleum on their computer.